PAs Listing Products Used In Promos

IgnisSerpentus

tsarist said:

IgnisSerpentus said:

It isn't a requirement

I understand that, but I think it SHOULD be a requirement.

IgnisSerpentus said:

At its most base form, you are, for all intent and purpose, supposed to be advertising your set. The focus shouldn't be on other sets featured. Granted, if you do characters, you're going to have to use hair and clothing in your promotional images - but really, you're only responsible for advertising your set, and providing the information on it.

Sometimes items like hair, that are not truly part of the set you're selling accentuate the face of the character being sold. There are some characters I buy because I'm looking for the TOTAL look offered in the promo. I have bought some characters and have been less than happy with the look until I put that specific hair on them. That completed the look.

Most Vendors are cool in the fact if you PM them, they'll tell you what it was

Yes, like I said, I have been lucky in that way too.

Well, I can understand people feeling it should. Me personally, I wouldn't care either way. But I can also see the other side of a coin - where the ideology is, if its there, it will take someone off the page. And that bothers some people (as in their head, they feel they've lost a sale) So I don't know that I think it should be a requirement. An option, perhaps, for those who don't mind.

And yeah, I get that some people want the full look. And also, that certain hair fits a character better than other hair types. But if people become too accustomed to using only specific things, are they really getting the most out of their purchase? It seems to me that would be a bit of a waste, and trying it with other things could potentially create a new and even cooler look. The more usability you have in a set, the better a purchase truly is.

DAZ_ann0314

It is not a requirement and never has been at DAZ3D to the best of my knowledge in the 8 years I have sold here.

That said, while I can understand people liking the idea or wanting it, it can prove to be a pita. For a couple years I did list every single thing used in my Promos in the wiki or linked to them when I uploaded as related items and what I would end up with is a list of like 20 to 30 items long O.o (which couldn't even be put in the related items as you can only choose 5...hence changing to putting it in the wiki) It would take me a couple hours just to put together the lists and honestly never once did anyone seem to be happy I took that time to do them and no one made note when all the sudden I stopped doing them either. The couple + hours of additional work seemed to pretty much go entirely un-noticed one way or the other no matter where I stuck the lists. The time spent was additionally only benefiting everyone else and not me and in the end I decided my time (even a couple hours add up over time) was better spent starting other items and finishing other projects that contributed to our bills and household over spending it advertising for others. Then additional problems come in when vendors can't recall what they used (sometimes you open up DS or Poser and just keep adding this and adding that and taking away this and that until you happen upon what you want) and then add to that that sometimes what is in the promos isn't even something sold here and what you have is a real inability to list everything. Now if I was doing a character and just rendering head shots with a shirt top...it may not be so hard. If you are someone rendering full scenes with multiple characters, character textures, multiple outfits (or mix and matching outfits), then texture sets for those, multiple hair items, the textures for those, maybe someone's light set, maybe some special effects set, and possibly adding in some props etc and varying those items throughout your promos, you can see how that list can get very very very very long very fast. So what may be a 4 minute thing for some may literally be hours and hours of additional work for others :(

As I said I did that additional work for a long while but the amount of time it added to writing it all down, putting it in order by promo, finding the links in the store to all the items, and also the additional time it took to do the promos (because I was adding this...nope changed my mind scratch that out...now find this item) etc just didn't equate to time well spent honestly and in all the years I've done this job...I maybe get asked about one item in a promo...not all 40 or so items. In the end it made more sense to just answer specifically when asked about something then to list "everything" :(

I just wanted to explained my personal experience and decision on the topic since it is something I did try to do willingly on my own for a long while as a service to my customers (as I had seen it requested before) and what the drawbacks for me personally were. Granted they may seem selfish ones but they aren't meant to be. They (for me at least) are about time management choices I have to make if I want to continue doing what I am doing. Each little request for additional things adds up and at some point you have to make choices and know when to say when so to speak.

DAZ_ann0314

And just to show the way I did it before wiki wise:
Midway down under promo information

http://docs.daz3d.com/doku.php/artzone/azproduct/11681
http://docs.daz3d.com/doku.php/artzone/azproduct/11795

tsarist

IgnisSerpentus said:

And yeah, I get that some people want the full look. And also, that certain hair fits a character better than other hair types. But if people become too accustomed to using only specific things, are they really getting the most out of their purchase? It seems to me that would be a bit of a waste, and trying it with other things could potentially create a new and even cooler look. The more usability you have in a set, the better a purchase truly is.

Usability.
You're right about that. It is VERY nice to be able to get a lot of use out of an item.

I will post a funny story that just happened to me about a client that had some very specific demands.
I'm tired and have a long drive home, but I'll post it tomorrow because everyone will get to laugh at another one of my insane clients and the hell they put me through.

Cheers